1. Field
Embodiments of the present invention relate to electrical connectors. More particularly, embodiments of the present invention relate to dual contact electrical connectors configured to minimize physical damage associated with repeated use.
2. Related Art
Four-wire sensing is a technique used to measure electrical impedance in a circuit under test. Four-wire sensing involves using two sets of wires to take measurements rather than a single set of wires. A first pair of wires, sometimes referred to as the “force” wires, supplies current to the circuit under test. A second pair of wires, also referred to as the “sense” wires, is connected to the circuit under test and used to measure impedance in the circuit. Four-wire impedance testing is typically more accurate than two-wire impedance testing because very little or no current flows through the sense wires, thereby reducing or eliminating the voltage drop across the sense wires that may adversely affect the accuracy of the measurement.
Kelvin type connectors may be used with four-wire sensing circuits. Kelvin type connectors include two electrical contacts integrated into a single connector housing and configured to contact a single, external conductive element at two different points, thus eliminating the need for two separate connectors attached to the conductive element. Because each Kelvin type connector includes two contacts, a single pair of Kelvin type connectors can be used to complete a four-wire sensing circuit. Kelvin type connectors are especially useful in applications that require four-wire sensing circuits (or other circuits that involve two sets of wires) to be repeatedly and frequently connected and disconnected. One example of this type of application is circuit manufacturing and/or testing processes, where four-wire sensing circuits may be connected and disconnected from circuits under test hundreds or even thousands of times each day.
Unfortunately, the repeated and frequent use of electrical connectors may damage the connectors over time. Such damage may occur in elements of the connectors that frequently contact other elements, such as electrical contacts that engage and rub against other electrical contacts as connections are made and as connectors are separated. By way of example, such frequent contact may occur where a first connector slides into friction-fit engagement with another connector each time a connection is made and slides out of friction-fit engagement each time the components are separated.